Nikola Jokić is the only sure thing about the Nuggets moving forward
After an embarrassing first-round loss, the Nuggets consider Nikola Jokić their only truly untouchable player.
After winning the 2023 NBA title, the Denver Nuggets have now failed to reach the Western Conference Finals in three straight postseasons. The matter-of-fact results aside, it's also about how they've lost. That's because their nadir in that stretch, a humiliating first-round defeat to the shorthanded rival Minnesota Timberwolves , sounds like it might inspire the change necessary for Denver to reopen a championship window around three-time league MVP Nikola Jokić .
On Sunday, ESPN's Shams Charania stated the obvious out loud about Denver. With the Nuggets looking so vulnerable in a championship-or-bust season, the only reportedly untouchable player in Denver moving forward is Jokić . That means it seems likely that at least one of the guys like Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson, Christian Braun, or Peyton Watson may have already played their last game in a Nuggets uniform.
Meanwhile, Jokić is expected to sign a monster contract extension worth nearly $300 million this July as Denver tries to retool around its franchise player. Which, to anyone paying attention to the Nuggets' exploits: duh. The report on Denver starts at 1:50 in the clip below.
Reporting on ABC Inside the NBA Tip-Off Show -- new updates on Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic, Minnesota Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards and the Denver Nuggets' future: pic. twitter. com/MPjLnQoPUq — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 3, 2026 Of course, executing team-improving trades, the Nuggets would be happy to accept, while also satisfying their trade partner, is easier said than done.